Product Descriptions for SEO

Product descriptions reside on our web pages just like any other form of content, but for some reason, we seem to forget that normal SEO best practice applies to them. Yes, your main priority with your product descriptions is your human customers, but product descriptions are still something bots are very interested in.

The ecommerce product description is an important part of real estate on your product page that can make or break a customer’s buying decision, so you’ve got to use it wisely. Your product might be so good it sells itself, but for the sake of a few carefully selected words, why not give it a helping hand?

Aside from boosting your conversionA conversion is a desirable result on a website that leads to an action such as completing an order, filling out a form, or simply clicking on a link. rates, product descriptions can really help your SEO, and can help your pages improve their rankings in the search engines. Every word you write signals something to Google, so you might as well use your product descriptions to send them the right signals.

Here are 5 tips on how to write incredible descriptions for SEO for your website.

1.    Actually Use the Space

Too many websites neglect to write a product description at all, or simply offer a few basic words about the product. But if you were paying for an advertising slot on TV, would you just show an image of the product and have a four-word description? No, because you would want to make the most of your money.

Your website should be the same. You’ve invested a lot to get the customer to your product page, so use every resource you have at your disposal. Unlike when you’re paying for an ad, there’s no limit to what you can do.

From an SEO standpoint, search engines look unfavorably on content they deem to be too thin. If your page only contains a few words and a couple of images, then Google and co are going to be less likely to feature them in their rankings.

2.    Do Your Keyword ResearchKeyword research helps websites unearth the best keywords to drive traffic and visibility. This research is supported by a number of powerful web-based tools, the best of which we’ve listed here.

Search engines are always trying to work out what your pages are about. Their job is to link their users with the web pages that most accurately answer their queries, and in order to do this, they need to understand what every web page is about.

Take the opportunity your product description offers you to tell Google what your page is about in your own words. When we say, “in your own words,” we mean use the keywords that give you a good chance of ranking for high volume queries, whilst staying true to what the product is.

It can be tempting to think your product description naturally ticks off the right keywords, but it’s not always the case. Think of a company that sells sports scoreboards. Now type into Google, “scoreboard”, and you’ll find the results aren’t dominated by companies selling scoreboards, they’re websites showing live sports scores.

A small scoreboard manufacturer probably can’t compete with the likes of ESPN, so they’ve got to find alternative keywords that reflect their product while still giving them a chance of ranking.

Finding the right keywords for an SEO product description can be challenging sometimes, but it’s well worth taking the time to cover this step.

3.    Be Creative

Just because you’re trying to please some bots with the right keywords, doesn’t mean you should forget about your customers. Human beings love stories, so be creative with your ecommerce product descriptions.

You’ve worked hard to get your customer to the point where they’re looking at your product page, so why not go the extra mile and stand out from the crowd? Anyone can stick the manufacturer’s description on their product page, but not everyone can craft the message that’s going to get your customer to buy your products.

If you need some help in this area or you are wondering how to write SEO product descriptions that sell, then see if there are any content writing services that can do the writing for you. You’ll likely find the improvement in your conversion rateA conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that take a desired action on your site. far outweighs the cost of getting some product descriptions written.

4.    Break Up Text

The presentation of your text is just as important as the text itself. When you go to a web page where everything is just one massive block of text, what do you do? For many people, the answer is they leave the site immediately.

In order to keep people on your pages and get them reading your descriptions for SEO, they need to be presented in an easy-to-read way. Breaking the text up and make it easy to digest is one way of doing this.

Not only will this help you boost your conversion rate, but the amount of time people spend on your page is a metric which Google uses to help decide where you rank. If people spend longer reading your product descriptions, it can only help your SEO.

5.    Get the Sale

However great it might be to rank for thousands of keywords, it’s not worth anything if you don’t make sales. Your product descriptions for SEO are one of your last opportunities to push your customers over the line and seal the deal.

Your final paragraph needs to hit home and sum up your value proposition in clear and concise language. Make sure you’re getting the right calls to action in there and give the reader good reasons to buy from you.

It can be a difficult balance to get the right tone between engaging your customer and putting across your value proposition, but practice makes perfect. Let your natural character shine through and craft a story around your product.

Conclusion

Your product descriptions are a valuable part of your website that everyone should be paying attention to. Good product descriptions not only there to please the search engine bots, but they also to improve conversion rates. So, really, it’s win-win.

When it comes to SEO, product descriptions are just like any other piece of content. They’re an opportunity to signal to the search engines what your page is about. If you don’t have product descriptions or if they are too short, then you’re not capitalizing on this opportunity.

What you should be doing is crafting good copy around your target keywords to give your site the best chance of ranking. KeywordKeywords are the words and phrases that potential customers might search for to find your business. research is essential to this, because what you think are your keywords might not actually turn out to be your keywords. Before you start rewriting descriptions, make sure you understand exactly what keywords you’re going after.

However, as important as SEO is though, you’re ultimately writing for human beings and so your writing needs to reflect that. Your end goal is to get the reader to buy your product, so you need to craft a message that engages your readers and persuades them to buy at the same time.

Getting the right balance isn’t always easy, but anything you do write is better than having no product description at all. You’ve worked hard to get the customer to the point where they’re looking at your product, so make sure you take advantage of every opportunity you have to convert them.

The product description is one of your last opportunities to get the sale over the line, so take full advantage of it. A good description won’t just get you more sales, it will also help you with your SEO rankings.